


reach out a hand

by LiveLaughLovex



Series: safe place to land [2]
Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: (or gen. it's really up to you.), F/M, Post-Episode: s03e02 In Justice, Pre-Relationship, Season/Series 03 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 09:42:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28686564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiveLaughLovex/pseuds/LiveLaughLovex
Summary: "I didn't offer to help her because I think she's some lost, wounded little creature in need of saving, Tim. I offered to help because I know what it is like, to feel so scared and so alone all the time and want just one place -just one place- where you can feel really, actually safe." She glanced up at him from beneath her eyelashes. "I had half a dozen people trying to give me that back when it was me. You were one of them. She deserves at least one person trying to give it to her."
Relationships: Tim Bradford & Lucy Chen, Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen
Series: safe place to land [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2102634
Comments: 22
Kudos: 76





	reach out a hand

**Author's Note:**

> I don't actually know if Tim and Lucy hang out a lot off-duty. Don't know if they're even allowed to hang out, what with all the rules in place, but for the sake of these post-episode pieces I'm apparently writing now, they kind of have to, so just... pretend with me, please?
> 
> The title comes from "Safe Place to Land," by Sara Bareilles and John Legend.

“You know,” Tim began conversationally, glancing briefly up from his menu to meet Lucy’s gaze as she slid into the booth across from him, “it probably isn’t a good idea to start drinking coffee at nearly ten, Boot. I’m not going to be any easier on you tomorrow if you screw up your sleep schedule today, you know.”

“Maybe my plan is to screw up your sleep schedule, so that you’ll be just exhausted as me and decide to take it easy on us both,” Lucy fired back, smiling at their bored-looking waitress as the woman paused to drop off to streaming mugs of coffee at their table before continuing on to a group of old men who were loudly debating politics in the corner.

Tim arched a single brow, then slid the cream and sugar canisters across to her. “That your plan, Boot?”

She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, then huffed a sigh, shaking her head. “No,” she admitted defeatedly. “It isn’t.”

“Mm. I figured. So.” He took a swallow of coffee, ignoring the way she predictably winced. Just because she preferred her coffee and dessert to come in the same cup, didn’t mean everyone else had to prefer it that way, too. “When I told you about this place last time, I didn’t think we would end up making it a habit, coming here.”

“You’re the one who suggested it!” she protested indignantly, finally taking a sip of coffee after mixing what Tim was pretty sure qualified as an _ungodly_ amount of sugar into the mug.

“You sent me a text, without any context, telling me that they’d changed math,” he deadpanned. “I was a little worried you were high on something. Or having a seizure.”

“You’ve seen me turn down _Advil_ for a _headache_ , and you thought I was high on something?” she asked incredulously.

“Or having a seizure,” he reminded her defensively. “Either way, I was technically concerned about your wellbeing.”

She rolled her eyes. “I was helping out Nolan at the Community Outreach Center. They’re doing tutoring sessions there, for the kids who need it. I volunteered to help, but _they changed math_ , Tim. I don’t know who’s in charge of deciding what math kids have to learn these days…”

“Pretty sure it’s the Secretary of Education,” Tim cut in dryly.

“ _Our_ Secretary of Education? Huh.” Lucy paused, tapping a finger against the rim of her mug, and then shook her head. “You know what? Never mind. Everything makes perfect sense now. I understand why my last _hour_ was spent wanting to pull my hair out.”

He smirked at that, but didn’t reply. “You spent your night volunteering at a tutoring center, then?”

“They are _not_ puppies, Tim,” she said sharply, defensive over something he honestly wasn’t even going to say.

He held up his hands in surrender. “Didn’t say they were, Chen.”

“And I didn’t take Tamara on because I see _her_ as a puppy, either.”

“Okay,” he nodded, trying not to sound placating. He really did understand where she was coming from. He just wasn’t used to her snapping the way she was in that moment.

The look on her face suggested he hadn’t been all that successful. “I didn’t, alright? I didn’t offer to help her because I think she’s some lost, wounded little creature in need of saving. I offered to help because I know what it is like, to feel so scared and so alone all the time and want just one place – _just one place_ – where you can go and actually feel _safe_.” Once she’d gotten that out, it was as if all the fight had left her suddenly, and she glanced up at him from beneath lowered eyelashes, looking far more shy than he was used to seeing her, especially those days. “I had half a dozen people trying to give me that back when it was me. You were one of them. Tamara deserves at least one person trying to give it back to her.” Lucy glanced down into her mug, shaking her head. “Every single time I try to thank you for saving me after I was taken, you always stop me. You always say I saved myself.”

“You _did_ ,” he cut in vehemently. “You saved _yourself_ , Lucy.”

“Everything I did wouldn’t have mattered if you hadn’t been out there, looking for me,” she reminded him gravely. “I would’ve died in that barrel, if you had decided to give up, if you’d started seeing me as some sort of lost cause and just… washed your hands of it and walked away. I might have been the one to drop the ring, Tim, but we both had a hand in me getting out of there alive that day.” She paused for a moment, still just staring at him. “And when everything was going on with Caleb, before he put me in that barrel… my training kicked in, Tim. So yeah, I saved myself. But you played a _huge_ role in teaching me how to do that.”

He studied her for a moment, well aware he was wearing just about every emotion he was wearing on his face, and then glanced quickly away, clearing his throat. “Alright.”

“Alright?” she echoed, confused.

“Alright. You do what you need to do with Tamara,” he elaborated. “You’re right. She needs help. I don’t know for sure if it’s going to turn out the way you want it to…”

“The same can be said of _life_ , Tim,” she interrupted mildly.

“…but I’ve learned enough by now to know you’re not going to stop, even if it starts going downhill. I’m not self-centered enough to think I’m going to be the one to change that about you. I figure there isn’t a chance in hell I’ll be able to talk you out of this…” He nodded once when she simply shrugged. “so I’ll be supportive.”

“You sure?” she teased lightly, smiling at him over the rim of her mug. “I wouldn’t want you to pull a muscle.”

He glowered at her, but even he knew there wasn’t any real heat behind it. “I think I’ll make do without an icepack, thanks, Chen,” he said dryly.

“No problem.” She chewed thoughtfully on her bottom lip for a moment. “Has Jackson talked to you?”

“About what?”

“About his new TO.”

Tim hesitated. “He’s… said some things, yeah. Brought up some concerns. He talk to you?”

“This family, they called in a burglary. They’d been out of town the night before, because their kid had a tournament of some sort, so they’d ended up at a hotel instead of going home. Anyway, Stanton got all in the kid’s face. Accused him of being involved with a gang because of some mark on his wrist, a mark I don’t think I’ve ever seen…”

“You probably haven’t,” Tim cut in, a feeling of dread settling in the pit of his stomach. “West mentioned it to me. The mark, I mean. I haven’t heard anyone talk about it since _I_ was a rookie.”

“West intervened with the family, but Stanton tore into him afterward, and…” Lucy trailed off, shaking her head. “Look, at first Jackson thought that, because of Stanton’s work with the gangs, he might just have them on the brain, all the time. See signs of activity where there isn’t any, maybe? But with what he’s saying now, I’m starting to think maybe it isn’t signs of gang activity he’s seeing when he looks at certain people. I think he’s seeing something else entirely.”

Tim exhaled quietly. “Wouldn’t be the first cop I’ve know who sees things that way. Unfortunately.”

“Yeah, but you hate those guys,” Lucy pointed out. “You think they should all be kicked off the force.”

“I do, but I don’t really have the pull with the Chief I’d need to make that happen. Look, Chen,” Tim sighed, considering his words carefully, “if you really think Stanton’s dirty, then I trust your instincts. You’ve got to be smart about things, though. You can’t go after him right now.”

“Why not?” she questioned, affronted.

“Because nobody else has seen the guy in action,” he pointed out calmly. “Right now, it would be his word against West’s, and whether Stanton deserves his reputation within the department or not, he’s still got it. West won’t get anywhere if he goes after Stanton without concrete evidence. He’d probably end up damaging his own career in the process.”

“That’s not fair.”

“No,” Tim agreed. “It isn’t. But unfortunately, it’s the system we’re stuck with, at least for the time being. I know you want to hang Stanton out to dry, Chen, and from the little West has told me, the chances are pretty high that he deserves it, but you need to do this…”

“The smart way, not the fast way,” Lucy concluded, sighing defeatedly. “I don’t like it.”

“Neither do I,” he replied honestly. “But it’s…”

“The system we’re stuck with, yeah.” She sighed again, then stared at him for several seconds, a smile he honestly felt was very out of place tugging at the corners of her lips.

“What?” he questioned self-consciously.

“You told me to tell Jackson to play it smart because going too fast would damage his career,” she reminded him, sounding nearly gleeful. “Which means you don’t want Jackson to damage his career, which means you _like_ him.”

“Hey, now,” he began to protest.

“You care about him,” she added, practically beaming. “You can keep pretending if you want, but you care about Jackson, the same way you care about me.”

“I…” He trailed off, deciding the look on her face in that moment meant denial would be fruitless. “I just don’t want to see a good cop get railroaded because the cards are stacked against him, alright? _Don’t_ tell him I said that.”

She adopted a serious expression, her eyes widening earnestly. “Oh, don’t worry, Officer Bradford,” she said, sounding so falsely sincere that Tim had to work hard at not rolling his eyes, “I would never dare endanger your reputation as a hardass by telling the world you’re actually a softie at heart.”

That time, he actually did roll his eyes. “You know, your training does still last for another twenty-three days, Boot,” he reminded her pointedly. “You keep it up, I could definitely live up to that reputation of mine.”

“Uh-huh,” she nodded seriously, sounding about as unconvinced as he’d ever heard her.

He dropped his head in defeat, then glanced back up at her, unable to hide his begrudging grin. “I really did like it better when you were at least a little intimidated by me, Chen.”

“No,” she replied confidently, lifting her mug delicately to her mouth, “you didn’t.”

“Drink your coffee,” he ordered lightly, even as he admitted to himself, in the privacy of his mind, that _no, he didn’t._

“Sure thing, sir,” she said, taking another swallow.

That time, the smile he flashed was a lot less begrudging and a great deal more genuine.


End file.
